Himachal tragedy: Bodies of 5 students recovered, probe ordered

Rescue personnel gather on the banks of the Beas river during a search operation in Kullu, a day after 24 engineering students of Hyderabad were washed away. (AFP Photo)

Rescue teams on Monday fished out bodies of five Hyderabad-based engineering students, who were swept away in River Beas by the sudden gush of water released without warning from the reservoir of a power project. The fate of 19 of their classmates, on an excursion, and a tour operator is unknown.

Chief minister Virbhadra Singh ordered a high-level inquiry and suspended three functionaries of the 126 MW Larji hydro power project. The Himachal Pradesh high court also took suo motu cognisance of the “grave negligence” on part of the project authorities, directing the state government to file a status report on the disturbing incident within seven days.

Engineering student Chetan Kumar accused the local administration of ‘sloppiness’. “We did not hear any alarms and there was no signboard prohibiting us from going near the river,” said the 22-year-old, who rescued two of his friends.

Of the five bodies — three females and two males — pulled out from the waters, four have been identified as Akula Vijehtha, Banothu Ram Babu, Gampala Aishwarya and Lakshmi Gaythri Appanbhotla. There is no trace of the others so far, and authorities fear the worst, describing chances of their survival as slim.